A jersey pegged to Mickey Mantle’s 1956 Triple Crown season will hit the auction block next week.
Mile High Card Company will offer the Yankees home flannel, which it calls “arguably the most significant game-worn item of the post-war era.”
“This is likely the finest Mickey Mantle game-used jersey ever to come to market, and it originates from one of the greatest seasons of any player in baseball history,“ stated MHCC President and CEO Brian Drent.
The jersey is part of Mile High’s January auction, which begins on Monday.
Originally created for use in 1955, the company says the jersey has been photo-matched to images from the 1956 All-Star Game, Sports Illustrated and Life magazine cover shoots, dozens of snapshots, and even advertising displays from 1956. It has also been examined by MEARS, which rated it A7 and Sports Investors Authentication.
Mile High says the photo matches suggest that Mantle was wearing the jersey for at least 17 of his home runs in the 1956 season, including the All-Star game. The jersey was autographed by Mantle much later and the signature has been authenticated by JSA.
Photo matching usually requires a unique characteristic such as a team repair or a specific area of wear, but not so with Yankees home jerseys as the placement and angle of the 14-point “NY” logo against the pinstripes on the front is a decisive indicator.
A famed snapshot taken in 1956 of Mantle granting an interview to Nicholas Baehr is believed to show the jersey hanging in Mantle’s locker, the blue stitching on the tail “clearly visible and properly aligned exactly against the pinstripes,” according to Mile High officials.
With a league-leading 52 homers, 130 RBI, and .353 batting average, Mantle captured his first American League MVP award in unanimous fashion and proceeded to smash three postseason homers in a seven-game World Series victory over the Brooklyn Dodgers.
This jersey is one of a triumvirate of high-end Mantle items in the auction that also includes a game-used 1960 World Series bat (MEARS A10) and a PSA 8 example of the iconic 1952 Topps #311 card.
Other items in the auction include game model bats from Babe Ruth (1929-30 PSA/DNA GU 9), and Ty Cobb (1922, the only known example from a .400+ season PSA/DNA GU 10) as well as game jerseys of Al Kaline (1964), Harmon Killebrew (1968-69) and Ted Williams (1971-72).
Bidding will run through January 23 at MileHighCardCo.com.
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